183

CHAPTER XV.

EARLY AND LATE 195

CHAPTER XVI.

IN THE TWILIGHT 206

CHAPTER XVII.

ASLEEP AND AWAKE 223

CHAPTER XVIII.

WHAT NEXT? 238

CHAPTER XIX.

SIX MONTHS 259

CHAPTER XX.

COME 270

CHAPTER XXI.

OUT OF THE SHADOW 285

MOODS.

CHAPTER I.

IN A YEAR.

The room fronted the west, but a black cloud, barred with red, robbed
the hour of twilight's tranquil charm. Shadows haunted it, lurking in
corners like spies set there to watch the man who stood among them mute
and motionless as if himself a shadow. His eye turned often to the
window with a glance both vigilant and eager, yet saw nothing but a
tropical luxuriance of foliage scarcely stirred by the sultry air heavy
with odors that seemed to oppress not refresh. He listened with the same
intentness, yet heard only the clamor of voices, the tramp of feet, the
chime of bells, the varied turmoil of a city when night is defrauded of
its peace by being turned to day. He watched and waited for something;
presently it came. A viewless visitant, welcomed by longing soul and
body as the man, with extended arms and parted lips received the
voiceless greeting of the breeze that came winging its way across the
broad Atlantic, full of healthful cheer for a home-sick heart. Far out
he leaned; held back the thick-leaved boughs already rustling with a
grateful stir, chid the shrill bird beating its flame-colored breast
against its prison bars, and drank deep draughts of the blessed wind
that seemed to cool the fever of his blood and give him back the vigor
he had lost.

A sudden light shone out behind him filling the room with a glow that
left no shadow in it. But he did not see the change, nor hear the step
that broke the hush, nor turn to meet the woman who stood waiting for a
lover's welcome. An indefinable air of sumptuous life surrounded her,
and made the brilliant room a fitting frame for the figure standing
there with warm-hued muslins blowing in the wind. A figure full of the
affluent beauty of womanhood in its prime, bearing unmistakable marks of
the polished pupil of the world in the grace that flowed through every
motion, the art which taught ea